Rubrica semanal de notícias e artigos relacionados com a edição de livros digitais.
Shatzkin notes that the infrastructure for e-book distribution is currently sketchy by comparison to that for printed books which has grown up over the decades—but that won’t always be the case. And when that infrastructure for e-books arrives, the state of the world will look very different than it does now.
In a “fully e-booked world,” we will own or have access to many screens, replacing many instances that would formerly have used print. We’ll take them with us when we leave home, or we’ll borrow them in places like medical waiting rooms. We won’t need to carry as many paper items around anymore once much of our personal business lives on these screens.
The Seattle-based company said Monday the new device, called Kindle with Special Offers, will cost $114. That's $25 less than the cheapest Kindle model currently out. Amazon said General Motor Co.'s Buick brand, Procter & Gamble Co.'s Olay line and Visa Inc. will sponsor the initial ads on the device.
The ads won't appear when users are reading an electronic book. Instead, they'll appear on the Kindle's home page, where readers choose what they want to read, and on the e-reader's screen saver, when the device is turned off.
Introducing the London Book Fair’s 2011 CEO panel, U.K. Publishers Association CEO Richard Mollet asked whether the digital transition was more evolution, with publishers adapting over time, or more revolution, in which old powers are swept away quickly, sometimes violently. “I’ve never been to a revolution, but what is happening doesn’t feel very evolutionary,” said John Makinson, Chairman of the Penguin Group. What is happening, he added, is "a transformation" in every area of the publishing chain.
Regardless of the path executives take, the Barnes & Noble of the future (if there is one, of course) will probably look nothing like it does today. The company could even choose to drop the name altogether and let Nook become the consumer-facing brand. Just a few short years ago, Barnes & Noble was imposing its will on the book business, muscling out an ill-prepared competition.
Barnes & Noble has already gotten one thing right in having an ereader ready to help it do battle with Amazon. But as far as successfully transforming itself into a digital company? Well, that's just Chapter One.
Bricks and mortar bookshops in the United States face a grim future, with the heaviest book buyers choosing to buy digitally, delegates at London Book Fair were told.
Speaking at the 40th anniversary keynote seminar, HarperCollins president and c.e.o. Brian Murray said the number of US e-readers—grown from 15m a year ago to 40m today—was having a disproportionately large effect on the market because they had reached "core" readers, those buying over 12 books a year. He said: “Some of the heaviest book buyers no longer visit bookstores.” He said some e-books had a 50% share of total sales during the first few months, a “watershed” for the trade.
Publishing — including STM, Educational and Trade material -– is currently estimated at being worth €80 billion and is the second largest creative industry in the world, after television; and is currently bigger than the music publishing; video games and entertainment software; and audiovisuals (DVDs and downloads) industries combined. But the question of what global publishing is really worth is not likely to be a true reflection, for one crucial reason: the near-total absence of statistics for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world, which together account for a fifth of the world’s population.
E-book sales growth showed no signs of letting up in February, increasing at an even faster rate than they did in January. According to AAP’s monthly sales estimates, e-book sales jumped 202.3% at the 16 publishers that reported results, hitting $90.3 million. The rest of the trade segments, however, all had declines in the month with adult hardcover sales plunging 43%, to $46.2 million at the 17 houses that reported figures, while mass market paperback sales tumbled 41.5%, to $29.3 million at the nine reporting houses. The $90.3 million in e-book sales was the highest dollar amount reported by any of AAP’s publishing segments in the month. The association attributed the gains to the post-holiday surge of consumers adding e-books to new e-readers.
A new website, the NIST Digital Archives, is exhibiting images of historically significant scientific instruments used to obtain these measures, in addition to providing access to full-text publications from the agency’s history. NIST is inviting enthusiasts to participate in describing some of the hundreds of historical objects collected through the decades. Some of the artifacts are unidentified or need more descriptive information. Visitors to the site can view the items and offer clues about the history and origins of some of these important artifacts.
De acordo com o relatório «Situación actual y perspectivas del libro digital en España» do Observatorio de la Lectura y el Libro, a venda de ebooks em Espanha em 2010 representou 3% da facturação do total de livros, duplicando os números relativos a 2009.
Bradley says that so far e-books are not offering any financial benefits to public authorities, and that there is a lot of uncertainty over which commercial model will work in the long term. A handful of companies have emerged as the major suppliers – including OverDrive, ebrary and Public Library Online – and the common method is that the library pays a licence to lend out an e-book as many times as it wishes. They use digital rights management technology to ensure it can only be downloaded to one device and remains unavailable until the expiry period, when the book is scrambled.
So, one way to stop the e-ink vs. LCD war is to put both of them in one device. Apparently, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has such a device in the works.
From what I understand, the user will be able to switch between the iPhone 4 display and an e-ink display depending on their needs. So, in theory, you could use the Kindle Application on your iPhone, and it would be more Kindle like than than the current version that is on the iPhone. If you can use that application, it would still allow you to download and purchase books from the Kindle Store.
New York Times E-Book Best Sellers
These lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the April 24, 2011 print edition of the Book Review, reflecting sales for the week ending April 9, 2011.
1. THE FIFTH WITNESS, by Michael Connelly
2. THE LINCOLN LAWYER, by Michael Connelly
3. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen
4. I'LL WALK ALONE, by Mary Higgins Clark
5. 44 CHARLES STREET, by Danielle Steel
1. BOSSYPANTS, by Tina Fey
2. HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
3. UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand
4. ALL THAT IS BITTER AND SWEET, by Ashley Judd with Maryanne Vollers
5. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, by Rebecca Skloot
